English

Alternative forms

• lichgate
• lich-gate
• lychgate
• lyke-gate

Noun

lych-gate ‎(plural lych-gates)

1. A churchyard gateway with a roof, under which a corpse was laid during a funeral to await the arrival of the clergyman.
   • 1851, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, The Moorland Cottage, HTML edition, Project Gutenburg, published 2004:

     If you take the turn to the left, after you pass the lyke-gate at Combehurst Church, …